


ふ かのう な — Fukanōna

by mozzmoth



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Pro Heroes (My Hero Academia), Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bullying, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, M/M, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Mineta Minoru is a Little Shit, My First AO3 Post, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon, Talking Pokemon, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, mineta's VA voices ciel phantomhive too so oof, yeet mineta into the sun honestly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21750292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozzmoth/pseuds/mozzmoth
Summary: Midoriya Izuku's only dream that he still clung to was the hope of going to Yuuei High School, a school infamous for hosting Japan's leading trainers. Armed with a kind heart, occasionally sharp wit, and a healthy dose of feet moving on their own, Midoriya was going to get in, even if nobody else believed so. When things inevitably go south at every possible time, maybe he'll realize just how much of a wild ride he's in for.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	1. Midoriya Izuku: Origin

**Author's Note:**

> My Ao3 debut! Enjoy!

Long before trainers rose to popularity, an ancient legend claimed that if a child was born and laid eyes on a pokémon before a human, they'd be destined to prosper alongside them. Surely just an old wives’ tale, there was no proof to the thought, but his mother, Midoriya Inko, will vouch that the first thing Midoriya Izuku ever met was a nurse's pink clefairy. Even if the story wasn't true and Midoriya never found out this little fact about himself, his aptitude towards pokemon couldn't be denied. 

Most would attribute this aptitude to his unshakably kind heart, despite how reckless he could sometimes be. As soon as he could walk and talk, it would be fairly common to see him outside playing with his mother's Chansey. When he was introduced to his very first friend at just 4 years old, a neighborhood boy named Bakugou, he was easily convinced that having a human friend was just as good as his ones at home. 

Midoriya Inko did not agree. Call it maternal instinct, but she had a hunch that the permanently scowl-faced kid on their street was a bad influence. Even if it only meant that her son often came home with scraped knees and an unbearably guilty expression. She knew that he was a troublemaker without the blonde's help though, so she decided to let it be. Hindsight being 20/20, maybe Inko should have trusted her gut.

\-----

Bakugou, in all things, was exceptional. He was intelligent for his age, oppressively determined, a natural leader, and seemed to be at least passingly good if not amazing at anything he tried. It really was a shame that everyone seemed to agree with him. Even his pokémon partner, who he also obtained younger than most, was exceptional when he finally got her. At the ripe young age of 4, the boy started to help the local pokémon professor with fieldwork after school. He knew the ploy was mostly an attempt from his parents to keep him out of trouble, but couldn't help but enjoy the activity despite what he tried to show with his annoyed facade.

On the day after his fifth birthday, a little under a year of helping the expert with menial tasks, he found himself out rummaging in tall grass yet again. Professor Saipuresu was taking samples from the ground, trying to find out if it was a dugtrio habitat. 

At that moment a cyndaquil decided to explode from the nearby bushes. No, literally exploded, the bush caught on fire behind the creature as it was propelled straight to where the professor sat. Bakugou, recording information that the expert called out, dropped the clipboard and stuck his now-open hand in front of him. He just barely snagged it by the scruff of its neck.

It was not happy about that. 

As small as it was, it still most certainly had access to the flames on its back, and if it was a bit older they might have been white-hot. As Bakugou, who was currently smiling insanely at the fire-type, had obviously seemed threatening enough to use its natural defense, the boy soon felt an unpleasant, numb stinging feeling on the palm of his hand. He didn't let go of the creature even after the burn started to kick in and really hurt, but it was small enough at the time to run out of energy decently quickly. Katsuki's hands had some nasty burns, but nothing that wouldn't heal after time. The cyndaquil deemed that Bakugou was no longer going to immediately kill her, so the creature went limp in his grip.

After that, Bakugou couldn't be seen very much of anywhere without the pokémon beside him. The first time he showed up to school with it following him, bandages wrapped around his right palm and fingers, he got possibly more attention than usual. Even Midoriya seemed to praise him more than usual, and why shouldn't he? He had gotten a powerful partner, and the first of the class at that. He was obviously going to deserve more praise than usual, how had he not started to realize it before? 

The more that classmates and even teachers had asked him to recount his tale, the deeper this simple fact set in and the deeper his prideful look sunk into its rightful place. He had found a partner that seemed to match him perfectly. Perhaps it hadn't matched him yesterday, but whether he had changed to adapt to the pokémon's prideful nature or it was the creature adapting to him, he would never know. Surely that's how all his classmates' partners would eventually be, too? He would have to wait to find out before adjusting his behavior towards them in turn. 

\-----

For a couple of months, Bakugou was on top of the world, and Midoriya was below it in turn. He was the first student to meet his soon-to-be companion, and as soon as he got a pokéball to be able to heal her his "accidental" battles with wild pokémon seemed to become a regular occurrence. Most agree that over time a pokémon's nature comes to reflect its owner, but Midoriya personally believed that in Kacchan's case the boy acclimated to the beast. 

Kacchan, at 5 and a half years (and counting) named the cyndaquil Queen Explosion Murder, or Queen for short. Because of course he did.

As a handful of students started to gather their own partners in the months upcoming, Bakugou was still far ahead. He didn't realize it, but it was getting to his head even more as these months went by. He started to treat his followers less like people and more like obstacles to be overcome, or things that annoyed him but had to be put up with. 

After years of this sub-par treatment, Katsuki's 6th birthday came around. On this day exactly, everyone but the little green-haired boy at the back of his homeroom had found a pokémon to call their own. It was also the day that the blonde that sat at the front of the pack lost his first childhood friend.

\-----

"Kacchan!" Izuku rushed forward to reach his friend and their pokémon. "Is Queen alright?" At these words, regardless of the boy's intentions, Bakugou seethed. Who did this partnerless nerd think he was? Queen was fine, she had slipped into the water but it was shallow enough not to hurt her too badly. He had already jumped in to help the stupid creature, after all. What was the shitty nerd going to do anyway? And that stupid expression, too, like he was pitying him. 

"What makes you think she wouldn't be, Deku?! She's not a weak little damsel in distress like you!" Bakugou snatched his pokémon from the rock she was drying off from and continued onwards with his lackeys in tow, Midoriya taking his place at the back regardless. It was just normal Kacchan behavior. Izuku's waterlogged boots dragged across the bridge and spilled out water with a faint squelch wherever his steps landed, the soggy atmosphere matching Katsuki’s new mood.

\-----

After that, ignorance and general disdain towards Izuku changed to outright scorn. Midoriya got the hint only after a couple of months and more than a handful of burn wounds. Beatings were still common, but Izuku learned how to hide burn marks from his mother and her pokémon. He was pretty sure Chansey knew anyways.

For a long time, times were bad for Midoriya. Worse than bad. 

Terrible. 

He stopped hoping that the treatment was just a strange phase where Kacchan was more angry with him. He started cowering when Bakugou approached him because even with all his lofty dreams and kind heart he learned that fighting back would make it worse. 

He never stopped looking up to him, though. Even throughout the insults of "Partnerless loser," "Shitty nerd," and his own personal nickname of "Deku," he couldn't erase the image of what he knew lurked underneath.

It's not that he couldn't find pokémon that he could've made his partner, he just knew that all of the ones he had offered a hand to were better off away from him. At first, they just didn't want to stay. Now, he didn't let them. They would no doubt have to face Kaccan's anger if they stayed around with him, and he wouldn't rest easy knowing he was the cause. Even as he met the 51st caterpie that was dropped by a bird pokémon's grip, he pushed them away from his makeshift med bay as soon as they were ready for the wild.

He still wanted to go to Yuuei High School, his dream ever since he was a kid. It was the one thing he and Bakugou still shared now that their friendship was long gone, and the one thing he could hang onto throughout his daily torture. It didn't matter that he didn't have a partner just yet, he would find one strong enough to last Kacchan's menace and he would get into the school. It didn't matter what Kacchan told him, he wasn't giving up just yet. After all, Toshinori Yagi had learned there, and he was the best trainer in Japan! He had to get in, but first, he needed a pokémon. Turns out, that was harder than it sounded.

\-----

Whether it was for better or for worse, Midoriya's opportunity found him when he was 11 years old. 4 years before he would have to be ready for Yuuei. Kacchan, as most knew, still fought a handful of wild pokémon when the occasion presented itself, it gave the much-needed experience and training to Queen.

He tended to favor weaker pokémon, less chance for him to get hurt and more chance for his cyndaquil to win. On this particular lunch break, a bulbasaur had ventured a little too close to the dandelion-infested field, inspecting a suspicious bit of charred grass. Katsuki only looked over for a moment, but the pokémon was unfortunate enough to lock eyes with him. Before Izuku could choke out a "Stop!" the blonde was across the field with cyndaquil close behind.

Izuku stood up and shot the grass pokémon glances until it pulled its gaze away from the incoming threat and onto him. Izuku tilted his head, as if asking "Why are you just standing there?" The bulbasaur shivered in response. Oh, that was why. It must be just as afraid as him, that was new. Before he knew exactly what he was doing, he was across the field, rushing after Katsuki and towards the now-trembling pokémon.

That was where mistake number 1 began.

Seeing as Bakugou had no intention of leaving the poor thing alone, Midoriya called out to him.

"Wait up, Kacchan! Stop!" The boy in question turned around to face Izuku and was met with a pleading look set in his green eyes that made him flinch. 

"What do you mean, shitty Deku? I'm training."

"Can't you see it's scared, Kacchan? You can pick on a pokémon that wants to fight some other time!" He pleaded with the blonde, subconsciously knowing that it probably wouldn't work. He was right. Katsuki kept marching forward with a "tch," surprised to find that the bulbasaur hadn't moved from its spot, completely frozen in place. 

"Queen, use ember," he commanded in an almost bored tone. He really didn't care about what he was doing, then. Well, Izuku couldn't have that, could he? He had his own fair share of burn scars and as such knew from experience that they didn't feel good. 

The second mistake came soon after that revelation. 

Another instance of Izuku's feet moving of their own accord, he stepped between Bakugou and the cowering pokémon. Queen was too far into the attack to slow down and stop, so Izuku ended up taking the full brunt of the fiery charge. He winced as it made contact and felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes, but stood strong regardless. He wasn't fighting for himself this time, he couldn't afford weakness.

Bakugou growled, "Get out of the way, Deku." The malicious glare that he was so famous for focused on the boy in his way. Izuku met it with a characteristically determined visage. The red-eyed boy almost flinched. Izuku had never done anything but take it for years, so what was with him now?

Regardless, Katsuki wasn't going to let up now. He had to teach the nerd a lesson, remind him who's better with absolute certainty. Be the undisputed victor. Cyndaquil needed the training to get into Yuuei anyways. 

"Queen, use ember again." The cyndaquil moved in on his command, and Midoriya's vision went momentarily white as the attack hit.

\-----

When Midoriya finally went home for the day, it wasn't alone, and it certainly wasn't unharmed. The bulbasaur, fainted, was cradled in a bit of fabric in Midoriya's arms. He couldn't protect it, he wasn't sure why he thought he could in the first place. He might as well make up for it by healing the thing until it could leave again to its normal life. It was the least he could do, he probably made it worse for it in the end. Once it woke up, he would patch it up and it would leave, That's how it went.

The only problem was, it never did end up leaving. He healed it, let it stay and eat, and when the time came for it to leave it just... didn't. He let it stay for another day before trying to kick it out. His expert solution that had never failed was to just lock it outside when he went to school. Hey, it had worked without incident since he started doing this kind of thing.

The next day arrived, a glorious Monday that was sure to be full of silent notetaking and ridicule. He picked up the bulbasaur that had been lazing around his house since the previous Friday and plopped them outside, closing & locking the door behind him.

"Sorry, little buddy, but you gotta leave." The creature blinked at him, unmoving. Izuku sighed. "If you stick around with me, you'll have to deal with Kacchan again," he protested. The bulbasaur, as if to demonstrate he'd be fine, extracted two appendage-like vines from its back and waved them around haphazardly. Midoriya brought his hands to his face and dragged them down with a dramatic groan. The pokémon cheered up at that, retracting the vines back under the bulb on its back.

"Saur!" It approved. 

"No, no no no. That was not approval. You are leaving," Midoriya argued.

"Bulba, bulbasaur," it agreed.

"This conversation feels very one-sided."

\-----

And so, much to Izuku's dismay, the bulbasaur followed him to school. It was clear that bickering with the creature that couldn't fully understand him was getting him nowhere fast, and if he dawdled any longer he would be late for school. The only thing keeping him going was the promise of Yuuei around the corner, so he needed to keep his grades up. Hey, maybe it would be nice having a partner by his -

No. This pokemon was a grass type and couldn't outlast Kacchan's onslaught. Maybe, though, it could be trained... He had better stop now before those ideas got dangerous. The boy shook his head briskly to clear the traitorous thoughts and trudged off to school.

He was mocked even more that day. The culprit of said ridicule was lounging under his desk during class, as many other of the kids' partners were. Katsuki, in particular, was having an absolute field day when he caught sight of the pokémon under Midoriya's desk. Of course, when Midoriya finally got a partner of his own, it would be the one he had beaten a few days before.

He made sure to voice this fact as often as possible, but Midoriya made a point of grumbling out, "They're not my partner." Katsuki only heard him once. 

"Of course it's your fucking partner, Deku," he snarled, "That's how it works. It'll follow you around and you'll maybe tolerate it. Figures that a shitty nerd like you would have a partner like that," he pointed at the bulbasaur. The creature hid behind Izuku's legs. Midoriya had flushed at that, knowing somewhere in his subconscious that Katsuki was right but still refusing to admit it. He really, really didn't want to make this pokémon protect him. It didn't deserve to have to fight his battles.

Even so, with each murmur of "It's not my partner," Midoriya could hear some of the conviction leave with the repetition in his words. He couldn't seriously be considering this, it was against his views to have others to fight for him. He didn't deserve that, did he? It would be unfair, and it's not like he could return the favor. Yet as he glanced back at the grass-type following him from school yet again he got the impression that it didn't care in the slightest. The last of his resolve slipped through his fingers.

He sighed, much like when the pokémon first started following him. This sigh held something else, though. A touch of affection, maybe? A bit of exasperation? Regardless, Midorya's decision had been made.

"If you're going to stick around, I can't just keep calling you 'Bulbasaur,' can I?" The bulbasaur perked up and tilted a bit to look up at Midoriya.

"Saur?"

"First, I want to know if you're a boy or girl or I can't pick a nice name! Er, I'm a boy if that helps," he added. Bulbasaur thought for a moment before patting Izuku's leg with a foot. "Um, does that mean you're a boy?" The creature did a strange half-nod, with a call of 'Saur!' to confirm Midoriya's suspicion. 

Midoriya thought for a moment before flashing his new partner a smile. "I'm going to call you Lightbulb is that okay?"

"Saur! Bulbasaur, saur," Lightbulb cooed appreciatively, bounding around Midoriya's legs as he laughed. 

"We're going to have a lot of work to do, bud. Kacchan may not have done anything violent for a little it, but I'm not sure how long this grace period will last," Izuku explained to his companion with a more serious tone. 

"Saur," Lightbulb affirmed. 

Midoriya smiled the entire walk back.


	2. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A 4.6k word downwards spiral of bad before it levels out somewhat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this story really comes into full effect here, and I'm not sorry. I'm running a little poll at the end, it's very important and extremely plot-related, I swear. Enjoy this new chapter that I completed at 2am and partake in the little tidbits of plotholes I undoubtedly sprinkled in there accidentally.

Pretty high up on the list of things that Midoriya didn't want to be reacquainted with was charred clothing, The first reason, Midoriya thought, was that it was hard to hide from his mother when he finally got home. The second reason was what the telltale black, crunchy fabric implied. An entire 100% of the time, charred clothing meant burning, and burning meant Bakugou.

Luckily for him, not so much for the creature in question, Midoriya had a partner now. 3 years had passed since the stubborn +thing+ had come into his life, and he didn't regret it in the slightest. He just hoped that his companion felt similarly about the whole ordeal.

Whenever Bakugou would make a more violent appearance, the bulbasaur made it clear that the neighboring boy's cyndaquil would have to go through him first. So he would. Lightbulb would lose, and Midoriya would get hurt. Such was the pattern for upwards of another year after Izuku's discovery of Lightbulb. 

Over each scuffle, the bulbasaur was gaining precious morsels of experience, knowledge for another time. That, paired with the few battles that pokémon would initiate and Midoriya's training for the beast meant that Lightbulb was almost ready to evolve. He may have retained his shy nature and may still cower... occasionally... but he was getting slowly better.

When Midoriya was 12, Katsuki's cyndaquil evolved. Midoriya was the test subject for its new abilities.

\-----

As time passed, Light would still freeze up in the face of Kacchan's newly evolved pokémon. He was getting stronger, but nowhere near a point that he could consider beating the bully. Izuku's twelfth birthday came and passed, as did Kacchan's shortly before. Lightbulb was closer to evolving, but bad luck had decided that first, Midoriya had to be royally screwed over.

It had seemed like a rather peaceful day to Izuku. Kacchan's quick jabs and insults seemed to hold a little less bite and with his drop in energy the remainder of the class drained away their enthusiasm to match. Lunch arrived without incident, as Midoriya tossed up bites of his bento for Lightbulb to catch. Bakugou seemed to be enjoying himself as well, chucking dry sticks across the field at his quilava, his face lighting up with what could only be described as manic amusement. It was strangely calming, seeing Katsuki's face light up in time with the flame.

Midoriya wouldn't exactly say a disaster struck at that point, but an unexpected bout of destruction had appeared in the form of a large doglike creature encroaching on the field. The students had begun to chatter among their friends and point at the pokémon, a stuffy silence falling over the group. Midoriya was not oblivious to this hush, signaling to Lightbulb for quiet and squinting to see what the commotion was about. 

Midoriya's eyes widened. "Houndoom," he muttered.

A student near him supposedly heard the mutter. Midoriya was rather famous for them. "Seriously, Midoriya? Houndooms don't even live anywhere near here," he barked out a laugh to punctuate his words, the sound ringing through the quiet field like thunder. Even the culprit had seemed to realize his mistake. The beast at the edge of the field snapped its head towards the kid to face him. If before Midoriya found the field quiet, now the clearing was so silent that the lack of sound was as deafening as the usual roar of speech.

In the blink of an eye, the previously passive-seeming creature was over to the other side of the field, snapping its teeth at the boy and leaving wilted grass where it stepped. It exuded an inferno of crushing power as it stomped towards more crowds, flames tearing along the meadow and licking harmlessly at the canine's sides. The silence, along with the calm mood, were long since erased.

The two students lucky enough to have water pokémon were cowering a ways away, keeping the fires from spreading further but not daring to get nearer. Before he knew it, the fiendish Dark-type was standing over Midoriya, his partner trembling uselessly behind. The boy's green eyes widened in shock, his hands and legs working to scoot him backward before he stumbled into the wall of the school. 

_ Well,  _ he thought as flames traveled ever closer to his shoes,  _ might as well brace for impact _ . He moved to do as such as the houndoom stalked closer. Perhaps his remaining luck struck then because he heard a sharp yelp in front of him and hesitantly removed his hands from in front of his face. He gaped open-mouthed as what he was seeing sunk in. 

"K-Kacchan?" he choked out. 

The houndoom was no longer looming in front of him, replaced by a head of blonde, spiky hair just above his eye level.. "Got it in one, shitty Deku. Now stay the fuck out of my way while I save your ass." Despite the obvious distaste held in Katsuki's words, Midoriya couldn't help but be relieved. Turns out, when Kacchan wasn't actively trying to kill him he wasn't the worst ally.

As soon as he felt confident enough that he wasn't going to be grievously injured, he started scanning the field for his missing partner. He locked eyes with the bulbasaur after a moment. The first thing he noticed was the clear panic in his pokémon's eyes, and it wasn't difficult to see why. A small cage of flame was surrounding the bulbasaur, he was stamping out whatever flames got too close but the heat would surely make him pass out soon enough.

As quickly as he could manage, Midoriya rushed through his circle of fire with nothing more than a slight wince and rushed to his partner's side. The pokémon noticed his approached and frantically reached out a vine, which Midoriya grabbed and used to pull him out of the fire enclosure. 

"Deku! Stop moving, you're making it harder, you piece of shi-" Kacchan was cut off by a burst of fire hitting the side of his torso. Midoriya winced in sympathy, seeing his childhood friend clench his teeth. He mumbled out a "sorry" that he was sure Katsuki didn't hear before bounding to where the water-type pokémon holders were, an ever-increasing safe space of ashy but damp ground.

\-----

Katsuki was holding his ground, and his burnt side, well enough. His quilava was darting around the intruding houndoom, smaller and a bit weaker but much more agile. He may be fighting fire with fire, but that fire was winning, goddamnit! The houndoom was faltering soon enough, and technically all he had to do was wait for an adult with a water-type to clear the field. Before that happened, Queen got in a single lucky hit, striking the houndoom with a crit. and bringing it down for the time being. The fires didn't die out because their energy-giving life force was not extinguished, but no more could be made.

Quilava turned to Bakugou with a growl/purr sound and the boy smiled maniacally at her in something vaguely resembling approval. Soon after, he was greeted by the hissing of flames extinguishing beside him as his math teacher appeared. "Bakugou!" She called, "Goodness, are you alright? We were trying to get to you, but more flames just kept appearing," the teacher tried to justify but Katsuki had already determined her as incompetent and tuned her out. He did, however, point to the fainted houndoom near him. 

The teacher followed his gaze, her eyes widening in a mixture of shock, concern, and surprise. While some fires remained, the students were safe. In part because of Bakugou Katsuki.

\-----

Later, when the houndoom was restrained, Bakugou spoke to the principal of his small school.

"Let me get this straight. You, a twelve-year-old boy, wants to train the houndoom that burned down the entire meadow and, nearly, the school."

"Yes."

"Well alright then, please avoid causing any more property damage," the principal may have been rather spineless, but at least he took a few minutes to think. The principal handed Katsuki a pokéball and that was that.

Bakugou named it Cerberus.

\-----

Over the next few weeks, small fires were a regular occurrence while Bakugou tried, and mostly failed, to get his new pokémon under control. During this time, a classmate with a squirtle partner took to making his pokémon silently trail the pair, putting out fires when necessary. 

Bakugou was not the only one training, though. Midoriya's bulbasaur was also working tirelessly. Well, it was more of a coaxing than actual training most of the time, the pokémon tended to freeze up in battles. It was a struggle to get him to attack in the first place, but he was getting better. Though Lightbulb was getting steadily closer to becoming an ivysaur, it wouldn't mean very much if he still took two turns to move in a battle. Yuuei entrance exams were just a precious few years way, and Midoriya didn't plan on wasting any of them.

Midoriya ended up keeping that silent promise for the next 2 years, Lightbulb evolving after a rather unremarkable battle against a pidgey. Nonetheless, it was a big celebration in the Midoriya household. Inko took the opportunity to make katsudon for her son, the boy in question sneaking bites to lightbulb when he though Inko wasn't watching.

\-----

The next year marked the beginning of his search for a second pokémon. Katsuki already had his houndoom, which was more or less under control by then, but Midoriya had yet to catch a supporting pokémon for himself. He would need it if he were to get into his dream school. While he kept looking, the pokémon he didn't deem good possible teammates made good experience farming for Lightbulb. Other than a few... mishaps... sometimes including a rogue caterpie... things were going great! That is until he decided to look for stronger pokémon in the downtown city nearby. He found one, all right.

As soon as he had stepped under that bridge, he knew it was a mistake. A gross, sloshing sound reached his ears, the 14-year-old whipped around a moment too late to see Lightbulb encased in a viscous goo-like substance. A dripping, purple-ish pokémon was standing over him. 

Midoriya opened his mouth to call out and was promptly greeted by the invading substance launched into his face. He coughed, feeling it cover his tongue, but before he could try to call out again a figure joined him in the alley. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Muk's sludge is partially poisonous," the figure threatened. This did nothing to calm Midoriya down, instead making him resume his coughing with renewed urgency.

With a raspy and still sludge-covered throat, he called out as well. "What do you want, anyway?" he asked. 

The figure, vaguely feminine now that they were closer, pointed to the struggling ivysaur near her. "This. The boss would enjoy it," she commented nonchalantly.

Midoriya's eyes widened, "What- Wait, no-" he was cut off by another mouthful of gunk down his throat as he rushed forward. When he moved to keep running he found his feet and legs encased in the stuff as well. He couldn't cry out, he couldn't even breathe, his lungs were clogged but he still struggled forward towards his partner. Why would the girl go this far for his pokémon anyways? Is this what dying felt like? No, he couldn't die here, he hadn't done what he wanted to do yet, his partner was about to be taken! 

But sheer force of will couldn't move the gunk out of his lungs, nor could it stop more from invading as the figure in front of him rummaged for a pokéball. 

_ What a pathetic way to die _ was his last thought before his vision started darkening. The boy vaguely thought he heard a crash before the

world

went

dark.

\-----

When Midoriya came to, he was immediately greeted by a muffled stinging at the side of his face.  _ Do dead people feel pain? _ his mind registered. The boy didn't find the answer to that question today, for he was still very much alive and whoever was smacking him was getting increasingly more frantic. He may have won the award for "Worst First Impression to Childhood Hero" when he muttered an incredibly slurred, raspy "Whazzat?" to the person slapping him.

Despite Midoriya's wounded throat, the person over him breathed out a deep sigh of relief. Midoriya risked a chance eye-opening to see who his decided savior was. He was not ready. Standing over him. Was All Might.  _ All Might _ . The famous trainer that won every battle he was in and was Izuku's idol for  _ who knows how long _ was standing above him, watching him hack out his lungs. 

To make matters worse, Lightbulb was having a similar first impression from what Midoriya could see out of the corner of his eye. All Might's prize Mewtwo was extraction the sludge from around the ivysaur with nonchalant flicks, commanding the sludge to move with its telekinesis. Lightbulb was  _ trembling _ . Shaking like a leaf while he stared in awe at the pokémon he had seen on TV so many times with his master. 

That sight may have been funny in normal circumstances, but Midoriya was too busy forcefully expelling his windpipe for this to register. Something in his subconscious realized that All Might was calling out to him, and the blood immediately rushed to his face with a squeak. "U-Uh, A-All Might!" he barely managed to get out and winced at the recurring stutter. 

"Yes, my boy! I was trying to see if you were injured or not, does anything hurt badly enough to be treated?" he clarified.

Midoriya shook his head, "N-no, A-All Might. I'm p-pretty much okay." The name tasted weird coming out of his mouth. With however many times he had said it, he had never actually talked directly to his hero. Especially not in a situation like this.

"Well, that's wonderful... Er, I didn't quite catch your name."

Midoriya knew he hadn't said his name in the first place, so there was nothing to catch, but he didn't point that out. "M-Midoriya, sir. Izuku," he added.

"Muhmidoriya? What a nice name," he remarked teasingly when the boy's hands rose to cover his blush, stuttering more to try and explain. "I'm only teasing, my boy, I just found it funny. You certainly wouldn't be the first person that's greeted me with a stutter." All Might conveniently left out that he had already seen the boy's name on his discarded trainer's notebook, which he had... Skimmed through.

"S-Sorry, sir. I-It's just, I have so many questions! A-About being a trainer and Mewtwo, and..." he trailed off. "You get the point."

"Certainly, Young Midoriya, but I really must be going after the criminal that attacked you. I've already been here much longer than I should have," All Might explained. Midoriya lowered his head, a bit ashamed at holding him up. Seeing this, All Might reassured him, "It's not your fault in the slightest, my boy, don't feel bad about it. Hopefully, I can see you at a meetup someplace." All Might signaled his Mewtwo to his side, who was conversing with Lightbulb more successfully now. The two moved to the opening of the alleyway as Izuku's ivysaur moved back to his master. All might stepped out of the threshold and muttered a few questions to his Mewtwo, which they seemingly returned telepathically. 

Midoriya moved towards the pair, "W-Wait!" All Might stopped in his tracks, listening intently. He took a deep breath and managed not to stutter, "Even if I only have an ivysaur, even if he freezes up sometimes and I don't have a second pokémon, can I still be a trainer like you?"

All Might's smile fell ever so slightly at each passing moment. He pondered over his answer before speaking. "I don't know, my boy. My Mewtwo tells me your partner already has a weak constitution, and without another pokémon, you'd be hard-pressed to win many battles. It just can't happen." He caught the expression on Midoriya's face and added, "Don't be disheartened though, Young Midoriya! There are plenty of jobs with pokémon you could pursue instead. You could be a healer, and I don't doubt you could be a professor with that brain of yours," he pointed to Midoriya's notebook on the floor. "If it's the battles you want, police officers still do plenty."

\-----

Midoriya still held his smile after his hero left, processing his words. As the shock finally left him and All Might's footsteps had long since receded, he vaguely realized that he was crying. Oh, well. It was a fair enough response. Lightbulb prodded his leg in an attempt at comfort, trying his best to tell him it was okay. His trainer offered him a weak smile even if he didn't believe it himself. The ivysaur noticed that too but didn't prod him anymore about it.

"Well, we can't end on a bad note, eh? Let's go train for a little bit anyway." Even if his hero said he wouldn't be a trainer, Midoriya would still prove him wrong. Add him to the list. He wiped off his face with his sleeve as he walked out, his partner close behind.

\-----

The pair weren't having any luck finding battles, specifically ones they could win. Midoriya was starting to lose hope, his wish for a distraction not paying off so far. He had just about decided to call it quits and head home when he heard an earth-shaking roar. Without thinking much more than registering this was probably a trainer battle, he started running towards the sound by force of habit. 

When he arrived at the scene, he went open-mouthed in something like awe or terror, maybe a combination of the two. For good reason, because what stood in front of him was possibly the largest tyranitar to ever exist. Nearby, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady, an upcoming trainer, stood on the sidelines. Kamui's trevenant, Arbor, wasn't the right type to take it on, with primarily Dark-type moves to boot. Considering his tree-themed marketing, most were confused as to why the pokémon didn't use many grass moves. Probably to avoid plotholes.

Mt. Lady's Snorlax also would do half damage, and despite its huge size it could barely even hope to compete with the beast near it. Izuku scanned the scene for a moment before a flash of purple caught his eye behind the gargantuan pokémon. On closer inspection, he noticed the muk that had caught him earlier. 

Wait a minute.

Lightbulb was pawing his leg frantically, urging him to look down. If he looked closely downwards, where no one else was bothering to, he saw a quilava desperately trying to escape the goo.

"What are you trying to tell me, bud?" Midoriya asked, his heart already sinking to his stomach as he anticipated the answer.

"Saur!" Lightbulb pleaded. Before he could register what he was doing, he was running under the hastily made barricade towards the quilava.

"Kacchan!" he yelled, throwing his backpack at the tyranitar blocking his way. The creature barely flinched, but that flinch was enough for Midoriya to slide between its legs and towards Queen.

A moment after his call, he heard a voice call back to him, "Stay back, shitty Dek-!" he was cut off with a choke. When the tyranitar moved closer, he ran through his extensive knowledge of type matchups and remembered that the tyranitar, no matter how large, was a dark and rock type. That means his ivysaur would have an advantage, however small.

"Lightbulb!" he screamed, "Keep it at bay with vine whip!" 

Lightbulb, though he hesitated, moved to obey when he was reminded of the gravity of the situation. He shook, but his weaving was keeping him from getting crushed while his vine-like appendages kept it from getting closer.

Meanwhile, Izuku had run towards quilava and was desperately clawing at the sludge around it. If he could free the creature's back, it could explode the rest off and, in turn, free its master. 

As good as his plan was, he was barely making a dent in the goo and he probably had only a few seconds until the opposing trainer set his pokémon on him. There was no way to win here, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. Just before the muk moved in to capture Midoriya yet again, he felt a strong presence behind him and immediately turned to see what it was. 

Mewtwo, yet again, was there to save him. Kacchan was probably further down the alleyway, but Mewtwo first took the time to effortlessly lift him with their psychic powers and flick him over the blockade again. Shortly after, Lightbulb was in his arms and Queen was at his feet, too weak to protest being near her enemies.

As Midoriya watched the battle urgently to try and locate his childhood friend, the tyranitar blocking most of his sight went down. Not only that, though, but the weak figure of the beast was replaced with a closed pokéball soon enough, and Midoriya heard a click. He was surprised, yes, but he was more worried about what he could see further down the alley. Without the tyranitar to stop them, Mewtwo was facing off against the muk fully encasing Bakugou. 

The battle, needless to say, was over in seconds.

\-----

After a very lengthy scolding from another one of his heroes, he finally moved to see Katsuki. He was doing okay, as far as Midoriya could tell. However, he was still struggling to expel gunk from his lungs and had probably swallowed a good amount, meaning he had to be given a poison antidote. 

Katsuki, seeing Izuku approach, simply glared at him. He couldn't speak too well and a stretcher was coming to take him to a nearby hospital, so Midoriya just placed Queen in his lap. "You can yell at me later, but I thought you'd want your pokémon," he explained. 

Katsuki's expression transformed into something Izuku had never seen on the boy; A mixture of confusion, anger, and... shame? This foreign look adorned his features while Midoriya just stared incredulously, but only for a second. The green-eyed boy smiled sadly and walked away, back towards home.

\-----

Most, if put in Midoriya's position, would probably say it was the worst day of their lives. Though he arrived on his street with tears threatening to spill over, Izuku couldn't bring himself to agree. Even if it had gone badly, he had met his hero (and no, All Might wouldn't stop being Midoriya's hero because of what happened). Even if he had been chewed out by Kamui Woods and nearly killed multiple times, he had still contributed to saving Bakugou. Yes, Midoriya couldn't bring himself to say it was a bad day because if he did, he might have believed it.

At that point, the universe seemed to decide that Midoriya hadn't been screwed with enough that day and out of the  _ freaking sky _ popped All Might and Mewtwo. All Might was being carried by Mewtwo, a funny image if Izuku wasn't completely exasperated at this point. 

"I know you probably feel bad and all, but I seriously don't need a pity apology right now. I'm fine, I'm going to be a trainer anyways." Midoriya himself was surprised by the bite to his words but allowed himself not to be guilty about it in light of recent events. 

"Actually, my boy, that's not what I wanted to talk about," All Might looked extraordinarily guilty, but Midoriya could see he was being honest. 

"O...K, continue, I guess?"

All Might sighed with relief and jumped into an explanation. "Please understand that you cannot repeat what I tell you under any circumstances other than ones I directly specify." Midoriya nodded hesitantly. All Might continued, "I guess first I must tell you about Mewtwo. About 6 years ago, Mewtwo was injured in my largest battle that year, probably of all time." 

Midoriya interrupted, "Oh, Toxic Chainsaw, right?"

All Might's eyes widened as the true nature of Izuku's inner fanboy revealed itself, but continued nonetheless. "Not quite. I used my battle with Toxic Chainsaw as somewhat of a coverup, but that wasn't the real one." All Might hesitated for a moment. "Maybe you'll learn about who the actual villain was- is- later, but that's beside the point. Regardless of who it was, Mewtwo was injured in the battle. The effects of this injury mean that Mewtwo is rendered nearly useless after using their moves for 3 hours in a day. It's kind of like... a glitch, of sorts."

Midoriya interrupted again, "Seriously? But... Why are you telling me this?"

"I was getting to that. You see, by the time that tyranitar was unleashed somehow, Mewtwo's time was already up. I had specifically ordered them not to enter the battle as we passed by to watch from a roof," the man shot the creature in question a withering look to which it shrugged in indifference. The two seemed to be communicating telepathically before All Might abruptly continued. "Anyway, when Mewtwo saw you go in, he disobeyed me. I can see why, too. You were so recklessly brave and determined that you got the attention of my  _ extremely _ difficult to impress pokémon. That's no mean feat."

Izuku shrunk under the Mewtwo's gaze, but he still hung onto All Might's every word. "That still doesn't explain why you're telling me this, sir."

"Impatient, are we?" All Might chuckled at Midoriya's guilty expression. "No need to be guilty, my boy, I was the same way when I was your age. Anyways, because of your actions, Mewtwo has decided that you would make a wonderful successor, and I'm inclined to agree. If you will have me, young Midoriya, I wish to teach you to be a trainer."

Midoriya was shocked into silence for a few excruciating moments. "This is a joke, right? A prank show camera team is going to come around the corner or something, and we'll all laugh at my stupidity," Izuku reassured, already knowing the answer.

"Not a joke, my boy, I'm being serious. Do you want to know a trade secret? Something in common about every good trainer to exist?" All Might didn't wait for a response, "Their legs start moving before they have a chance to think. That's what happened to you, isn't it?" Midoriya choked on the tears he was barely restraining and nodded. "If you accept, I'll tell you more tomorrow. Oh, and even if you decide against it, I want you to have this," All Might removed a pokéball from his belt.

Midoriya, still fighting the stinging at the corners of his eyes, choked out, "Is that..?"

"The tyranitar," All Might confirmed," But don't let it out without me. I couldn't have caught it without your help, but it's still a bit scared. 

Midoriya nodded, wiping away a stray tear that had escaped his hold. "I want to be a trainer," he repeated, "If you're offering to train me, I have to accept."

"I think you're going to be a great trainer," All Might confided in an almost-whisper, as if he was sharing a secret as important as his Pokémon's illness. "And I'm sorry for what I said in the alleyway. You proved me wrong almost immediately." That must have been the breaking point for Izuku, who raised his head to look at his idol as if he was the one who hung the stars in the sky. The boy smiled as the dam broke, wiping away the tears that fell as his hero smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not writing Katsuki's scene with Izuku, I quite honestly don't feel that comfortable writing it but if this ever gets a lot of readers I'll maybe get a friend to write it for me :,)
> 
> Also, there's a lot of loose ends and questions that this chapter will probably give you, but rest assured knowing that it will probably maybe be explained in the next chapter, which is mostly exposition :P
> 
> Now, for the moment absolutely nobody has been waiting for and will probably not be responded to at all, The Poll (tm). Here it is:
> 
> Should Mineta Minoru's supporting pokémon be a Bewear or a Mr. Mime? Please respond I'm hopeless.
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


	3. Mental Mayhem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE! I've been spending a rather concerning time in the hospital and school is kicking my butt about it. I promise to stay on schedule for... at least another update, haha.

Izuku was well aware that he needed the sun to survive, but with a car engine draped over his back and the offending star beating down on him with heat, he found it difficult to appreciate. 

Mewtwo was standing near him, walking with the strange-looking balls of its feet instead of trying to float like normal. The psychic-type creature and All Might had spent another day battling criminals and Mewtwo’s time limit had long since run out. Izuku didn’t mind, though, it made him push himself not to mess up. If he did, Mewtwo would need to go over their time limit to save him. 

The Pokémon in question interrupted his thoughts,  _ Rely on your legs more, boy. Your arms aren’t strong enough to lift that without help. _

Izuku nodded as a response and shot back a mental  _ Okay _ . He was getting better at communicating telepathically, something All Might said was necessary for… Some reason, he wasn't sure. Add it to the list of "Questionably Important" lessons his trainer taught.

As soon as he deposited the engine into the truck bed at the street side end of the beach, All Might approached him again. Midoriya used the back of his hand to remove the sweat from his forehead, glaring at the sky again as if it had personally offended him. It kind of had, if the sheen of sweat along his face and back had anything to say on the matter.

“Midoriya, my boy!” His stare down with the sun was interrupted yet again. He blinked to get the bright impression off of his eyelids while All Might began. “I think that’s enough physical training for today. You’re already getting so much better, Young Midoriya! I assume I don’t need to ask if you’ve been following the meal plan…?” 

Izuku nodded eagerly, “I have, All Might. What are we doing next, by the way?” He and all might had already worked into a system of a few different workouts. One was his physical training, which he still barely understood the reason of, another was training Lightbulb, another was meditation and telepathy training, something All Might also claimed was important, and the last was… he didn’t want to talk about it. 

Unluckily for him, the last option was apparently exactly what All Might had planned for the day. “First of all, I already said you could call me Toshinori.” 

“Toshinori-sensei,” Izuku conceded with a pout. 

“Toshinori-sensei, then,” he chuckled. “Second, you’re not going to like this, but it’s been a while since we tried to train Tyranitar…” he trailed off. 

Izuku grimaced. The pair had already been training for months, only 2 ½ were left until the entrance exam, and yet the gargantuan Pokémon wasn’t even close to trusting him. More often than not, it would end up nearly attacking Midoriya, and would need to be quickly returned to its ultra ball. Plus Ultra-ball, if you asked him. He had no idea how Toshinori caught it in the first place.

Toshinori caught Izuku deep in thought and added, “I know you’re not a fan of it, but if you want to do well as a trainer you’re going to need to draw out all of your Pokémon’s true potential!” Izuku’s hero pinned him with his brightest smile, and how could he say no to that? Toshinori knew this as well, and Izuku knew he knew, so he redirected a glare towards All Might. 

Regardless, he started rummaging through his trainer’s belt for the tyranitar’s Pokéball. “Let’s do this, then,” Izuku announced. 

\-----

This was the worst idea. Not even a bad idea, but a plan so mind-numbingly bad that both trainer and student had no idea how they managed to end up in this situation. 

All had been going seemingly well. The tyranitar, who Izuku had yet to name, glared at the boy a little but had begrudgingly used one of its moves on a heap of metal and crushed it into smithereens. Izuku had smiled for about half a second, thinking that the Pokémon was having an acceptable day and was finally giving its trainer a bit of a break. 

He was so, so wrong.

A chunk of metal that had gone flying had shot straight towards the hand with Izuku's ultra ball, knocking it away with such cruel accuracy that he wondered if his Pokémon had planned it. A second of oppressive silence landed over Pokémon and trainer as the Pokéball landed a couple feet away from Izuku. The two looked at each other for a moment before Izuku had a thought.

_ Oh wow _ , the boy speculated, _ I am absolutely fucked.  _

Then all hell broke loose and got him to where he was then, sprinting full force away from a very large but rather slow Pokémon roaring in his direction. Mewtwo was the only calm one there, reaching for the lost Pokéball but stumbling on the way as it had to rely on its two legs. Toshinori was just panicking, sending out his secondary Pokémon (a very brash braviary) to try to stop the rampage against his pupil. The bird Pokémon frantically grabbed for purchase on the back of the tyranitar’s neck, flapping against it to push it backward. 

The tyranitar didn’t care much, trying to advance forward even though it wasn’t going much of anywhere anymore. Midoriya had gotten Lightbulb out as well, the ivysaur trying to calm its teammate down in guttural, obscure tones. Strangely enough, it seemed to be working. 

For whatever reason, the tyranitar seemed to trust the small grass-type more than any humans, and Mewtwo even more than that. Izuku still wasn’t quite sure why his Pokémon disliked people so much, but if it meant he wasn’t crushed just yet he wasn’t complaining. 

As the tyranitar seemed to gain some semblance of calm, Mewtwo passed him the ultra ball that they had finally caught up with. 

_ I wouldn’t put it back without a warning, though, _ Mewtwo warned him telepathically. Izuku nodded, walking towards his previously-rampaging Pokémon. It looked about ready to kill him until Lightbulb wildly threw out more Pokémon-speak at it. Izuku’s partner looked about ready to collapse with the stress, and he made a mental note to ask his mom for katsudon sometime soon. A treat for him as much as his partner, but he couldn't help that they shared a favorite food.

Midoriya stood in front of his Pokémon, grabbing its attention by clearing his throat. The beast whipped his head around to pierce him with a glare much too intelligent for comfort. “Er… Is it okay if I put you back in your P-Pokéball? Or do you want to… Um, cooperate? I-I guess?” 

Izuku winced at his stutter. He knew he should probably aim to sound more confident to impress this particular creature. Or maybe not. He didn’t know the Pokémon well enough to assume, and it didn’t trust him enough to communicate with him. 

To his surprise, the tyranitar stopped and seemed to think for a moment before turning to the nearby Mewtwo. “Tyranitar,” it growled, a bit raspily. 

Mewtwo’s eyes widened before turning back to Izuku.  _ It says… It’ll cooperate… Well, I guess it used the equivalent of Pokémon bad language, though. _

Izuku shared Mewtwo’s disbelieving look before wiping away the expression and turning back to his Pokémon. “Oh, u-um, okay!” He turned to Toshinori, who shrugged, confused as well. “Well, how about we work on regulating Earthquake’s collateral damage? I noticed you tend to destroy a radius that’s usually a bit more than necessary, and I know there are methods to closing up the affected area of the move…” 

Toshinori, who had snapped out of his confusion, started holding back laughter at the absurdity of the situation. Izuku glared at him, but quickly turned his attention to his tyranitar when it spoke. 

“Tar,” it nodded, almost begrudgingly. Lightbulb looked up at it and spit out a bunch of praise-ish word vomit at the poor creature. Izuku set up a radius of targets with scrap metal while Toshinori hung back around the sidelines, bewildered. 

\-----

After that, training involving Tyranitar was very hit or miss. Lightbulb figured out that he didn’t like his Pokéball, later discovering his gender, and since then Izuku (and company) were careful to use the Pokémon’s pronouns and keep him out of his Pokéball when they were training. Soon enough, the Pokémon seemed to trust him about half of the time. 

About a month before the entrance exam, the rock-type and Mewtwo approached him.  _ Tyranitar is confused about why you call your bulbasaur “Lightbulb," _ they interpreted.

Midoriya tilted his head in confusion before letting out a giggle. “Oh, that’s his nickname! I named him after he decided to stay a part of my team, and he seemed to like it, so…” he explained. 

Tyranitar considered this for a moment, then he turned to Mewtwo. “Tar… Tyranitar?” He asked. 

Mewtwo, who really should’ve started to expect the unexpected at that point, translated to Izuku. 

_ He wants a nickname,  _ they stated blandly. 

“Oh, a-alright- Wait, what?” Midoriya whipped around to face his tyranitar disbelievingly. “You-you’re serious?” The beast nodded. “Tar.” “O-Okay, I’ll think about it in training today, then I’ll tell you one at the end! O-Oh, and you c-can decide if you like it or not.” The tyranitar looked almost pleased, walking towards Lightbulb while his trainer stretched for a day of physical training. 

\-----

“Ok, so here’s what I was thinking,” Izuku said excitedly. “So, you’re bigger than most Pokémon, especially of your s-species, and you kind of look like this one m-movie monster,” Tyranitar flinched at the last word.

“Nonono, you’re not a monster, though. You just look like this huge Pokémon-like creature from a movie I like, haha,” he laughed a bit nervously. “But anyway, I thought you might like to be called ‘Gojira,’ after the movie!” (AN: “Gojira” is the Japanese version of “Godzilla”) 

Tyranitar looked almost excited (or at least content), an emotion that Izuku had rarely seen on the creature. “Tar.” He exclaimed. 

Izuku sported a genuine, soft smile, reserved for rare times like these. “Gojira it is, then.” 

\-----

That was one of the better days for Gojira and Izuku’s teamwork, but they were still extremely rough around the edges. Assuming the edges made up most of whichever figure they symbolized. They were getting better, but Gojira preferred to do his own thing 80% of their battles and even then, he only listened to Izuku’s commands when it benefitted him. 

He did hold some respect for the Pokémon he was battling, so at least he didn’t literally kill whoever he fought. After one such battle where Izuku’s secondary Pokémon actually listened to his commands for like, half the battle, All Might called the pair over. 

Izuku nodded, first using a revive on the wild Pokémon so that it could scurry back into the sand. Others might call it a waste of a revive, but All Might’s policy was to give it a chance to get back to wherever it came from to avoid predators in its weakened state. 

Izuku and his tyranitar walked over to their mutual teacher, the latter employing more of a shuffle than anything with its too-small legs. 

“You may want to take out your ivysaur as well,” All Might called, his Mewtwo hovering next to him. It was a rare day where the Pokémon’s time limit was still existent by the time training rolled around. Izuku took out Lightbulb’s Pokéball, his glowing form making an imprint on the back of the group’s eyelids as he solidified. As soon as the ivysaur formed, he immediately jumped onto the head of his young trainer, burying himself among the thick, green curls there. 

All Might laughed and continued, “As you know, the entrance exam is coming up soon. Well, very soon. A week.” Midoriya nodded hesitantly, the start of whatever speech this was doing nothing to soothe his nerves. “Well… I’ve been holding something from you, somewhat. Part of my progress as a trainer would be Mewtwo’s inexplicable fighting-type move and telepathy, wouldn’t you say?” 

All Might didn’t wait for a response to continue, “I can chalk that up to the mysterious circumstances of Mewtwo’s creation as a coverup, but it isn’t the truth. The truth is this,” Toshinori pulled out a small disk from his bag. 

Midoriya blinked at him, examining the disc after the shock wore off. “Toshinori-sensei, that’s a Creation Disc. A rather common item for top trainers in Japan, it would make sense that you would have one…” 

All Might let out a single barking laugh, “As expected for you to already know what it is! But let’s give some exposition out there for the readers that don’t, eh?”

“We’re the only two people on this beach-“ 

“So! We both know that regular creation discs are basically discs with special moves engraved in them like a record, usually made with the help of both a machine and a partner Pokémon!” 

“I still don’t understand why you needed to explain that-“ 

All Might cut him off yet again, “But this isn’t an ordinary creation disc. It’s the very first of its kind, passed through the generations by a man with a very mysterious partner,” he brought his voice down to a hush, despite being the only ones near. “This creation disc holds the fighting move you’ve seen Mewtwo use so many times before. In reality, this disc holds a special move that intertwines the very consciousnesses of trainer and partner. The move molds to the personality of a couple Pokémon and their trainer to form a completely unique move, and allows them to communicate telepathically. Mewtwo was able to extend this telepathy to other people due to their strong psychic abilities, but the previous holders could communicate to three choice Pokémon in their team through the use of this disc. Any more and it would be detrimental to the bond between them. And as my successor…” 

“You can’t be serious,” Midoriya stopped him, “Me? Aren’t there… Better people for the job, I guess? I mean, you’re you! All Might! And I’m just… Me. Izuku Midoriya. You’re sure I’m going to be able to handle it?” His voice cracked with emotion near the end of his last question, the corners of his eyes stinging with unshed tears. He always was a bit of a crybaby. 

All Might smiled kindly, “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I’ll teach you how to use it, too, so we can try to get a bit of control over the connection for the entrance exam. And don’t forget, you’ll still have the capacity to connect with one more teammate after this, so choose whoever you catch wisely. You’ll have to wait until your internship to look for a third Pokémon, but I think it’ll be worth it in the end. Fate is like that sometimes,” he winked. 

Izuku stuck his tongue out playfully, wiping the corners of his eyes off to stop the flow of tears. “Ew, never do that again,” he teased. 

“What, this?” The senior trainer winked again, this time with the other eye. 

“Stop!” Izuku called, wiping the tears away from his face as he tried to control his laughter. All Might continued his torture as he walked his pupil back home. 

\-----

Izuku had to admit the Yuuei gates were a bit imposing. As he stood, five minutes before gate closing, he was saved by the timely arrival of a pair of (more or less) hero-hopefuls. Kind of. 

The dark-haired one of the pair almost knocked him right off his feet after running into him, snapping him out of his stupor but making him tumble forward in surprise. He was caught by a hasty vine net set by Lightbulb, but he was still a bit shocked by being so easily toppled. He wasn’t a small, noodle-armed boy anymore, after all. 

“Oh gosh, I’m really sorry!” The dark-haired girl spoke with an accent that Izuku couldn’t quite place, reaching out a hand to help Izuku out of his net. Her companion was still choking on laughter a little ways away, 

“Are you trying out for the Trainer course?” The boy asked him, matching the girl’s accent. Izuku nodded, a bit perplexed by the whole exchange. 

“What are you doing here, then!? The general studies test is a ways away, but doesn’t the Trainer one start in a couple minutes?” The dark-haired one finished for her companion. 

Midoriya’s eyes widened, not realizing how much time he had wasted in front of the shimmering gold of the Yuuei gates. He scrambled to his feet, disregarding the hand outstretched for him in his haste. With Lightbulb at his tail, he made it in the gates, only stopping to yell a “Thank you!” over his shoulder at the pair. 

His face lit up with red as he ran, the bright blush only stopping when he was safely inside the testing room. He forgot to ask their names.

\-----

As expected of Izuku, he passed the written portion with plenty of time to spare, going back to check most of his answers before quite a few people were even finished. Now, he sat waiting for everyone’s test to be collected while he sat with Lightbulb on his lap. 

_ Warm _ , the creature called telepathically, earning a smile from Izuku. The disc’s bond hadn’t quite sunk in yet, even after a week, but Izuku still treasured every ping and small signs that it was there. He would have to work on Lightbulb’s ability to speak as well as their regular All Might Training Curriculum (trademarked), now. He had no doubt that his partner was intelligent enough to speak to him in more full sentences, but before last week the ivysaur had had no reason to learn the intricacies of the English language. 

They still understood each other plenty well, though. Breaking him away from yet another bout of his zoning out was the very loud arrival of Present Mic. 

“YEEEEEEEAAAAHH!” the blonde screamed, amplified with the help of his exploud, sliding on his knees to the center stage of the testing area. “That’s everyone! Now I’m going to explain the physical portion of the exam, so listen up! I hope you’ve followed the school’s suggestion and gotten your team to level 30 because this one’s a toughie! Let’s just get right to it, then. There are four testing areas, Area A, B, C, and D! Each one holds model Pokémon, each with different point values based on the strength of the Pokémon,” the hero began. 

After that last sentence, Midoriya’s brain was already whirring away, thinking of new possibilities and strategies to beat the metal monsters.  _ Considering there are three different strengths, I’m guessing there are different types as well? Does the test take into account type advantages or is it supposed to rely on the pure strength of your Pokémon for these battles? Assuming these are battles, of course, and that would also mean that constriction and psychological moves probably wouldn’t work. That puts psychic types at a severe disadvantage, though, they must have-  _

“I have to ask that the boy muttering over there also acts in a way befitting UA standards and avoids distracting those around him! This examination is not a joke!” Midoriya winced. He was speaking out loud that whole time, then, and had missed a good portion of the explanation. 

Present Mic laughed from where he sat, his exploud echoing it and shaking the entire space, “While I agree with you, Mr. Iida, those were some good questions, er…” 

Izuku paused for a moment before realizing Present Mic was talking to him. “M-Midoriya, sir! Midoriya I-Izuku,” he added. 

“In that case, good questions Midoriya! To answer them, type advantages do not come into play regardless of the robotic Pokémon’s form, and there are weak spots throughout most of the robots to allow for constriction-type moves to succeed. However, psychic type moves that rely on more psychological attacks will not work. Anyways, there is also one more robot, as Iida pointed out for me. This robot is worth 0 points and should be avoided if possible. That just about wraps it up! Please head to the testing areas you were assigned, if you don’t know yours please come ask me!” 

The hero rummaged through a compartment in the podium while Midoriya was already long outside the door. 

\-----

If Izuku thought that the previous gates were imposing, the openings to the testing area were two-legged goliaths, ready to crush him with all the power they carried. When the gate parted from the ground and was swallowed into an opening far above, the screeching sound attacked his eardrums and made him and his partner flinch, but they stood tall. They had been yelled at by Gojira, after all, and he was much louder than any gate. 

Izuku took the two seconds he had to talk to Lightbulb, out loud for now. “I don’t think we can face off against actual robots with Take Down, so that’s out, but Seed Bomb is also mostly blunt-force. That leaves Razor Leaf and Poison Powder, and Poison Powder won’t work as acid. That leaves just Razor Leaf unless I want to risk sending out Gojira.” 

Lightbulb nodded, used to the rambling at that point. Having come up with a game plan, they were just about ready when they heard a loud “GO!” from the Present Mic/Exploud combo. 

Lightbulb, having a much faster reaction time (and subsequent speed) than Izuku, launched him forward with a strong, vine-like appendage before following closely behind. Izuku rushed ahead of the pack, some Pokémon having similar ideas as his ivysaur. With his superior muscle mass than a majority of the people there (most hadn’t thought to train their bodies), he was around the corner with Lightbulb before some people had left the gate. 

Soon enough, they stumbled across their first robot, a 1 pointer in the form of a large Eevee. 

“Lightbulb! Razor Leaf!” 

“Saur!” the Pokémon returned, summoning sharp leaves from the bulb on its back and shooting them at the robot. 

Izuku’s face paled with something like shock or fear, the new color matching the metal sheen of their opponent. What would have been devastating strength against a creature of flesh and bone did little more than scratch the surface of the steel casing of the robot. 

“Fall back a bit, I have to think!” Lightbulb obeyed, jumping back towards his owner but staying between him and the advancing machine. Izuku quickly scanned the robot for weaknesses, finding a sort of “chink” in the plating on the back of the thing’s neck. 

_ There!  _ he called to his partner and pointed, mentally this time. It took a bit of effort, but it would be harder to hear and see him otherwise. His partner nodded, aiming a copy of the previous attack at the spot Midoriya had said. 

“Nice going!” Izuku yelled as the robot combusted. 

He looked at the time they had spent fighting.  _ Crap. Two minutes!  _ Lightbulb heard him and nodded, rushing off towards the next robot to fight. 

\-----

After beating 20 more robots as quickly as they could, needing a couple tries to find the weak spots for the 2 and 3 pointers, they had some time to spare. Razor leaf was soundly out of moves, Lightbulb had long since exhausted his supply and items to replenish move uses weren’t allowed. 

“We could try using Take Down?” Izuku ventured, “We’re doing so well, but this isn’t enough to get in, I’m sure of it.” The ivysaur nodded, sensing his trainer’s apprehension in his mind like waves at the beach they trained at. It would be all for naught if they couldn’t come up with another plan.

“I think Take Down might have a chance against the Eevee robots, wanna give it a shot?” The pair smiled, or Izuku smiled and Lightbulb got pretty close to one. The pair rushed off to find any stragglers. 

\-----

Turns out, Take Down did not work against robots. With a higher attack statistic, maybe, but his Pokémon relied heavily on speed and couldn’t grow much stronger. 

So there he was, holding a nearly-fainted ivysaur in his arms, sprinting away from an eevee and the metal-on-metal scrape that followed it. He was saved by a bright beam cutting right behind him, followed by a shiny dragonair and a blonde-haired boy. 

The blonde was obviously a pretty… fashionable person, with red glasses spreading across most of his vision. The glare from them caught Izuku’s eyes and he winced as the boy spoke, “Thanks for the assist,  _ mon ami _ ! Good luck catching up!” He winked before rushing away with his Pokémon in tow.

Midoriya grimaced, holding up Lightbulb’s Pokéball in defeat, “Come on back, bud.” A red beam of light tenderly enclosed the Pokémon before it disappeared back into the capsule to rest. I

zuku picked up the Pokéball and started walking back towards the entrance before he heard a girl scream a few alleys down. He, along with most other trainers, turned their heads towards the disturbance only to catch sight of another robot. This one towered over buildings and reeked of more ill-intent than Izuku was comfortable seeing in something that wasn't truly alive. The ear-splitting shriek of gears turning under its surface and metal joints clinking together hovered around it like fog. 

“That’s the zero pointer?!” A test-taker yelled from down the road, and for good reason. It was a pretty terrifying creation for a zero-pointer, taking the form of the legendary antimatter Pokémon Giratina. Izuku, while glad that it wasn’t the real thing, also didn’t want to go anywhere near the fake one either, and turned on his heel to run out of the enclosure. That was before the scream split the air again, this time clearly coming from where the metal Pokémon stood. 

_ Oh shit, not again, _ Izuku thought briefly, but his legs were already weaving through the retreating crowd towards the noise. Somewhere along the way he definitely knocked someone over, but by that point, he could see someone trapped under the rubble and stuck it in the “Problems for Later” category. 

The girl saw him approach and presumably tried to call out, but the thundering steps of the robot in front of them drowned out any attempts at a speech she could have made. Izuku was already rummaging in his belt for a Pokéball, barely registering what he was doing as a brightness encompassed the alleyway and reflected off the Giratina’s metal plating like a mirror. Gojira exploded out of the capsule with a roar, breaking part of the buildings around him with its dramatic entrance and shaking the ground around him with its first step. The miniature earthquake even freed a fainted alakazam from near the girl. 

_ Cruel irony, _ Izuku thought. 

_ Irony doesn’t matter right now, _ Gojira growled mentally. A bit panicked, he added,  _ What is this you’re making me fight? Is this some cruel joke?  _

Izuku tilted his head questioningly before relaying the same motion mentally.  _ What’s the matter? _ Izuku asked his Pokémon, concerned. 

_ I don’t know if I can manage to fight this, _ the tyranitar admitted, still in a growling mental voice.  _ Not that I don’t have the strength to. It’s been… Very deeply ingrained in me, _ he corrected. 

_ Are you sure you can’t?  _ Izuku added, getting a bit panicky. He saved what his Pokémon confided for more deep consideration at a later date. Even if their conversation so far had lasted much less long than a spoken conversation (thoughts formed much faster than words), the Giratina was approaching rather quickly. Even in its mock-Altered Forme, it was decently fast. 

Izuku’s tyranitar grumbled, preparing itself.  _ I will try. But it will be using the disc’s move because I don’t want to think about what I’m doing too hard.  _ Izuku steeled himself and grimaced, putting himself between the girl and the Giratina. That action lasted infinitely longer than Izuku’s back-and-forth with Gojira, and another boom shook the ground as the machine took another step closer with one of its six appendages. 

“Gojira! Superpower X!” Gojira roared in response, and Izuku felt it in every bone of his body. He felt every minute sensation his Pokémon experienced, every muscle contracting as the creature moved. He wasn’t ready for the sensation of the Pokémon’s thoughts merging with his own, each intention and plan running through his head at the same speed as Izuku’s did normally. 

_ We’re more similar than we thought!  _ He joked.

_ Hardly, _ the tyranitar returned, flexing a small arm muscle as it opened its eyes. Izuku gasped, the vision combining with his own strangely. He could still comprehend both at the same time as Gojira rushed forward at Izuku’s own will, the disc’s move running through the tyranitar’s arm. At Midoriya’s mental cue, Gojira jumped forward with strong back legs and sank sharp claws through the metal casing of the goliath machine in front of them both. The pure force running through the dark type's arm propelled it deeper into the casing of the previously advancing Giratina. Izuku closed the creature’s hand mentally, enough to pull some wiring along with the gouged out metal. He hoped he got something vital enough to interrupt it from advancing. 

_ Young trainer, _ Gojira called quietly, his consciousness somewhat replaced by Midoriya’s.  _ I don’t think my claws should be as warm as they are. _

Oh. That’s not good. Izuku acted as quickly as possible, forcing his tyranitar’s legs backward as fast as they could go as the robot behind them contracted strangely, the gargantuan hole in its chest sparking once before exploding the rest of the metal husk. Izuku ducked Gojira’s head, but a flying piece of metal struck one of his arms and spine. 

Izuku gasped in pain, his concentration breaking along with his back as he dropped to his knees. Izuku’s left arm and back snapped with an awful crunch, the skin around them purpling terribly as Gojira was buffeted by more, less serious debris. Whatever happened after the zero-pointer combusted, Izuku didn’t get to see. He was knocked out cold long before Gojira thought to help out the girl they came there for. 

\-----

Izuku awoke to the slightly stinging sensation of a hand repeatedly tapping the side of his face, the smacks growing in intensity as Izuku failed to move. 

_ This seems familiar, _ he registered before opening his eyes begrudgingly. Over him was the girl from the rubble, the one he had helped out from the metal Giratina. 

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, concerned. Midoriya attempted to sit up before gasping at the flare of pain from his back. 

_ Maybe don't sit up just yet _ , Gojira called, marching into view and towering over the two of them. Izuku glared in his general direction, trying to sit up made his vision swim a bit. 

"Recovery girl is on her way, alright? You're gonna be fine, k?" She tried to smile at him comfortingly, but it came out looking a bit more like a grimace. He didn't feel too bad about it, though. He probably looked like shit. 

"Your-" he cut himself off, gasping. The girl tried to shush him, but he finished. "N-Name," he choked, wanting to slip back into unconsciousness to avoid the pain of existing with a broken spine. He just had to wait a little longer. 

"Ochaco Uraraka," she answered, smiling more genuinely. With that, Izuku slipped back under the thin veil of unconsciousness and pain-free slumber that awaited him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I think we gotta give Mineta a Mr. Mime. It has to happen. Also please feel free to ask questions because there are a lot of unanswered things that aren't really important to the plot.

**Author's Note:**

> Updated every other Tuesday if at all possible.  
> Please leave (constructive?) criticism below if anyone ends up reading this. Thanks for reading!
> 
> \-----
> 
> Hoo boy, this is going to be a wild ride for more than just Izuku. I'm already itching to write more but I'm pushing myself to slow down and actually make a plot and stuff. If this sucks please know it's nobody's fault but my friends E and S because they read this over beforehand. This is a really long chapter by my standards but I'm not ending this fic without having written a monster 12k chapter. *evil laughter* By any means, expect 2k a week or you can yell at me.
> 
> -Moth


End file.
